When life changes fast
by Mummy0f5
Summary: After working together for the last 3 years. Naru finally gets the answer to his "Me or Gene" question. Soon something happens that will change both their lives.
1. Chapter One: Not In Love?

**A/N - Hey everyone. As promised, a new story. Set appropriately a year following the Nightmare House of the Manga/Light Novel.**

**Enjoy**

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"Goddammit! Where is that annoying thing hiding?!"

The speaker was a slim, modestly developed but quite short 18 year old girl with shoulder length brown hair currently tied back in a high ponytail and big brown eyes. Dressed in dark blue denim capris, a form fitting red top and white sneakers, she was crouching over a black equipment bag searching for a particularly annoying cable required to connect the thermal camera she was setting up in a hallway to the equipment back at base.

"Are you sure you packed it, Jou-san?"

This voice came from a long brown-haired hippy styled man, wearing a loose band tee and scruffy jeans, in his late 20s who was standing at the far corner taking room temperature measurements.

"Yes Bou-san. I am sure I packed it. I double checked every bag last night and again this morning before we left. Every bag had its correct cables and accessories packed into it."

The girl, usually known as Taniyama Mai or nicknamed Jou-san by the man she called Bou-san, stood up and turned to look at him with her hands on her hips. She was feeling frustrated. This wasn't the first item to have gone missing since they'd arrived on site. Bou-san, also known as Takigawa Hosho, could only shrug back at her. The pair of them trudged back to base to check the bag of spare cables for a match to the camera in question.

They weren't the only ones looking for spares apparently. A very annoyed Oliver Davis was pinching the bridge of his nose when Mai and Takigawa entered base. He was glaring at John Brown, a blond haired baby faced Catholic priest, and Yasuhara Osamu, a University student with cheerful eyes that could be seen through his glasses and a flirty grin were also missing cables from the cameras they had been trying to set up on the other side of the house they were investigating. Lin Koujo's was setting up monitors into the newly erected shelving behind a table hold various other equipment.

"Not you too?!" Oliver snapped at them.

"Yes, us too." Mai responded. "Whoever this ghost is, he's already playing with us."

"He?" John asked her.

"It feels like a he to me." Mai responded with a shrug, already crouched in front of the spare cables bag and digging through it.

"I thought the client said they heard female voices. Where does a male come into it?" Yasuhara questioned as he headed over to the case files. He'd done research on the building before they'd arrived and didn't recall any male owners who had died there in the past. In fact most of the deaths mentioned in the history that he found were females between the age of 18 to 25. A large number of them seeming dying from strangulation after being attacked in their beds. The rest were females outside that age bracket. That was the reason that Oliver had accepted the case. The client was a 23 year old woman who had moved into the house two months prior and was now too frightened by the activity to stay there.

"I'm sure we'll find out by the end of the case." Oliver said in a dry tone. The years he'd spent working with this motley crew had mellowed out his narcissistic personality, that had earnt him the nickname of Naru, a little though only when it came to their small team.

The last two members of said team, a red haired woman, in her mid 20s dressed in a loose fitting blouse and tight fitted red pencil skirt with matching heels, and an 18 year old woman with sleek black hair styled in a bob-cut and dressed in an expensive silk kimono, entered the room. The red haired woman, Matsuzaki Ayako, was huffing in annoyance. The other woman, Hara Masako, held a kimono sleeve covered hand to her face. She was pale and a little faint looking.

"Masako felt a number of female spirits as well as a male one. Apparently he's vile and comes across as strong." Ayako moaned as she flung herself into a couch resting against the far wall of the base. The two women had just come back from a walk through of the house to see what Masako could sense.

"The female spirits all seem to be trapped here. They are unhappy. The male spirit is holding them here but I don't know why." Masako confirmed as she sat delicately in a chair nearby.

"One for Mai then." Yasuhara said gleefully. Masako frowned at that. Mai wasn't sure when it had started but some time over the years Yasuhara had started comparing the two teen girls talents to see who could pass spiritually received information faster. He took great pride whenever Mai managed to one-up Masako on a case. Personally, she ignored it. Masako was a medium whereas she, herself merely had a latent ESP. Masako interacted directly with the spirits whereas Mai dreamed of their lives in her sleep through astral projection. As far as she was concerned there was nothing to compare. Masako seemed to take it personally though.

Mai figured that had more to do with her assumed rivilry over Oliver's attention more than anything else though. Mai had long given up trying to get his attention by now. Between finding his twin brother's body, having said dead brother as her personal spirit guide and being bluntly asked "Me or Gene?" on her one and only confession to him, Mai was over it all. Oliver was sure it was his older twin brother that Mai was in love with and nothing either Mai or Gene said to him was going to convince him otherwise. So Mai just shoved said feelings deep down and ignored them. It wasn't worth the pain. Masako had yet to reach that point however.

Oliver looked across at the full length mirror placed by the table holding the shelves full of currently useless monitors. "Got anything to add, Gene?"

"Not really. Just be careful. Don't let the ladies go around by themselves. They're all within the preferred age range for attacks."

Mai was the only one who could see or hear Gene in the mirror other than Oliver. Something that was supposedly the result of her being psychically connected since he was her spirit guide. Everyone else knew Oliver was talking to his brother although they couldn't see or hear him. To them the mirror reflected Oliver.

"Oh, great, another pair assignment case. How are we setting up the pairs this time?" Mai whined as she stood up brushing her denim capris down. She'd finally found the cable she needed and was ready to go finish setting up the thermal camera.

Most of the other's groaned. They quickly understood from Mai's statement that they'd have to be paired off for this case. It wasn't the first time and no doubt wouldn't be the last.

Oliver glared at her before responding. "Matsuzaki-san with Takigawa. Hara-san with John."

"And me?" Mai asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Myself or Lin. Obviously."

"Obviously." Mai rolled her eyes. "Come on then Lin-san. I still have a camera to finish setting up."

She stalked out of the room without waiting for Lin's reply mumbling under her breath. Lin followed quickly behind. He'd grown used to their little arguments over the years and often found it entertaining how much Oliver tried to keep the trouble attracting girl close to him in an attempt to keep her safe only for it to backfire on him every time.

It was amazing how much information he had observed from the interactions of the non-couple. Such as Oliver's overprotectiveness of Mai despite his insistence that she was merely an employee and Mai was obviously deeply in love with Oliver even if he couldn't see it. Mai had confided to Lin once that Oliver was convinced she was in love with Gene. That was around the time she stopped actively pursuing Oliver. Ironically, her lack of pursuit only increased Oliver's deeply hidden need to keep her close. Lin figured that Oliver was still denying his own feelings for the girl.

"I swear Gene does this stuff on purpose. He just loves tormenting me by demanding pair work." Mai vented as she finished setting up the thermal camera.

Lin shrugged as he waited for her to uncoil the cable so they could head back to base. He rarely said much but he and Mai had settled into an easy friendship full over quiet understanding in the time of working together. He'd grown fond of the girl once he'd gotten over the fact she was Japanese after she had lectured him about it. She was very like Gene in personality, if a bit louder. In some ways that fact made it easy for him to get along with her. Mai in turn had learnt to read Lin's subtle facial expressions in leiu of his rare words.

Mai handed over the cable to Lin as they entered base so he could attach it to the equipment on the table. By this time Ayako had begun putting up charms around the base and the two bedrooms that the group would be using. Takigawa trailing behind her.

Masako was annoying Oliver in the hope that he'd change his mind and pair her with himself. He rarely ever did. Oliver usually avoided her now that she no longer had blackmail material to hold over him regarding his true identity. Instead, Oliver was discussing with John and Yasuhara over whether it would be safe for the three women to sleep in their room at night. Oliver was of the opinion that the women would be fine. Yasuhara, obviously taking advantage of the situation to try and set up his favourite ships, was arguing for having each female sleep in the same room as their pair. John was wisely keeping quiet about the whole topic. Masako kept hinting that she should share a room with Oliver instead.

As soon as Oliver realised that Mai and Lin were back he strode across the room, grabbing Mai's arm and dragging her out the door towards the kitchen. A faintly begging "Mai, tea" could be heard through the microphone of the camera set up in the hallway outside of base as they passed it. Mai could be seen yanking her arm out of his as they entered the kitchen. A camera hadn't been set up in there yet so no one in base could see or hear the drama they assumed would follow.

Mai stalked over to the kettle and filled it with water before setting it to boil. She ignored the hovering man behind her as she pulled out two tea pots and various tea cups from an SPR labelled box sitting on the bench nearby. As soon as the water finished boiling she filled the tea pots and then added the tea leaves into the strainer to steep.

"What's your take on the sleeping arrangements?" Oliver finally asked her, after he'd had enough of being ignored.

"Initial feeling? Not sure. It doesn't feel like it will matter either way. He's going to attack us regardless of whether we're guarded or not." Mai answered. Her ESP skills might be latent but her 'animal instincts' as Oliver called them are strong and usually on point.

Oliver frowned at that. He'd quickly learnt to put stock into her gut feelings after working closely with her over the years. Mai telling him that it wouldn't matter either way gave him concern.

"You may as well put Bou-san and Ayako in the same room regardless. They're secretly dating anyway."

Oliver stared at her at that. "They are?" He rarely paid attention to his employees interrelations, unless it was Mai, not that he'd tell her that.

"Yeah, they hide it but it's so obvious. I saw them kissing in the storage room a month ago." Mai shrugged as she removed the strainers from the pots and added the lids. She'd already added a small jug of milk and a sugar jar to the tray.

"Kissing huh?" Oliver mused as his eyes dropped briefly to Mai's lips. "Any other couples, I should know about?"

"Hmmmm, I assume you know about Lin-san and Madoka?" Oliver nodded in confirmation. "And Yasu is dating Chiaki." Oliver raised an eyebrow at that. Kasai Chiaki was a student at a school that they'd helped in their first year working together. She now worked part-time in the SPR office between training with Lin and school work. "I think that's about it. John's kind of prohibited from dating anyway, being a priest and all, and the only guy Masako feels is worthy of her time is you, so..."

"Don't remind me." Oliver shuddered. Sometimes being young, rich, good looking and famous was a curse. "What about you and Gene?" Oliver dreaded the answer to that question but he also (desperately) needed to hear the answer.

Mai merely shrugged and picked up the tea tray. "What about me and Gene? There's nothing happening there. He's nothing more than an annoying big brother." With that she left the kitchen and headed back to base, Oliver trailing behind her deep in thought.

"Matsuzaki-san can you make charms for a third room? We're going to go with Yasuhara's suggestion of staying in the pairs for sleeping arrangements. Matsuzaki-san will be bunking with Takigawa. Hara-san will be sharing a room with John and Yasuhara. Mai, you're sharing with Lin and myself." Oliver ordered as soon as they got back to base.

Mai sighed and began pouring the tea into cups with their required additives and passing the freshly made cups to the respective person it was made for, starting with Oliver. He'd only get grumpy if he didn't get his first. She was not looking forward to Masako's whining about the whole bedroom matter.

Ayako pulled out more charms once she'd finished her tea and headed out to choose a third bedroom to place them with Takigawa following behind. They were secretly happy with the new arrangement. Grabbing their stuff out of the previously chosen bedrooms along the way, they chose a bedroom with a double bed and put the charms up.

Yasuhara and John transferred their gear over to the room that was originally meant for the girls and then carried Mai's bags back to the room she'd now be in, so she wouldn't have to leave base.

"Thanks guys!" Mai gave them a beaming smile. They smiled back in response. By that time, it was starting to get dark.

Ayako and Mai threw together a meal for their dinner with Takigawa watching over them while he set up a camera in the kitchen and Oliver studying the case file at the table while waiting. Everyone ate at the base and then John and Yasuhara washed up. Masako refused to help. She might ruin her kimono if she washed dishes.

Mai dragged Lin to the bedroom so she could grab her nightwear and head to the bathroom. She trusted him to stand outside and keep her safe while she got ready for bed. Oliver tended to get impatient if she took too long in such situations. Lin walked her back to base, where he swapped with Oliver to escort her to the bedroom. Lin was on monitor watch for the first half of the night. Yasuhara would be taking over watch in the second half. "Night Lin-san" Mai called as she left the room. The other's had already headed to bed.

"Good night, Mai. Noll." Lin replied as he settled in front of the monitors for the first half of the night with a small grin. He'd noticed Oliver deep in thought most of the evening with numerous subtle glances at Mai as if he was trying to puzzle something out. Lin wondered if Oliver had finally taken note if his feelings and was going to make a move. He snorted at that thought. Not likely.

Back in the bedroom, Mai hurriedly climbed into the middle bed. Oliver turned on a side lamp before turning off the main light and then sat on his bed staring at her. It made Mai feel a little uncomfortable. Sitting up, she sighed. She obviously wasn't going to be getting any sleep any time soon if his current stare was an indication.

"Alright Naru. What's the problem? You've been thinking about something rather hard all night. What is it?"

Oliver was silent for a short while. Mai almost gave up on getting an answer before he finally spoke.

"You think of Gene as a big brother?"

"I believe my words were as an annoying big brother, yes."

Oliver was silent again thinking that over.

"So, you don't love Gene?"

"I'm not in love with Gene, no. I never was."

Oliver wasn't sure what to think at that point. His every action up to that point from the moment he'd learnt she had been seeing his brother in her dreams was to protect her as his brother's love interest. Why else would Gene persist in remaining as her spirit guide? Any other feelings he'd had regarding Mai had been strongly suppressed under the assumption that Mai loved his brother in turn. Hearing that they had more of a brother - sister relationship threw him off balance and his own strongly suppressed feelings for the girl broke free. Struggling for control, Oliver turned out the lamp and got into bed.

"Go to sleep, Mai."

Mai merely shrugged and huddled back into bed. "Night Naru."

She barely heard his whispered response of "Night Mai" as she drifted off to dreamland.


	2. Chapter Two: Is Naru Possessed?

_Mai woke in her bed sensing danger. A tall man stood over her pulling off her pink blanket. 'My blanket is blue not pink. Am I dreaming?' A quick glance at the old-fashioned pink nightie that she was now wearing rather than her baby blue pjs she went to sleep in confirmed her dream status._

'_Thanks for the warning, Gene, ' Mai thought sarcastically. The furniture in the room was also old-fashioned even if it was Western style rather than Japanese._

_By this time, the man had pulled up the pink nightie and pulled down the knickers of the struggling victim with one hand. The other hand was covering her nose and mouth so she couldn't scream._

_Mai tried to pull back out of first person view but couldn't do it without Gene's help. 'Guess this means the victim's spirit dragged me here instead of Gene.' This meant that Mai had to experience every thought and feeling that the victim experienced first hand._

_The victim's rape was painful and her subsequent strangulation afterwards made Mai feel faint and nauseated despite her dreaming status._ _Mai expected the dream to end then but it continued. Thinking that the girl was dead the rapist stood up adjusting his clothes._

_Just as he was about to climb out of the open bedroom window to the tree he'd originally climbed to get up there, the victim's mother opened her bedroom door. At the sight of her daughter and the man climbing out the bedroom window, the mother screamed. The scream scared the man climbing out of the window and rather than grabbing the tree branch he was using to climb down, he missed and fell._

The dream finally ended then and Mai sat up, drenched in sweat and grabbing at her neck. Oliver and Lin alerted to her panicked state woke as well. Switching on the lamp, Oliver grabbed the pen and notebook he'd placed by his bed in case Mai had one of her dreams and waited patiently for her to start talking. Lin sat next to her on the bed gently rubbing circles over her back to calm her down. When Mai was finally calm she talk a deep breath, clenched the blanket on her lap with her fists and began talking.

"First person view. Victim. Girl woke up in her bed to a strange man covering her nose and mouth with one hand while pulling off her blanket and removing clothing with the other. After raping her and strangling her to almost death he tried to escape out the window. The girl's mother entered the room then and scared him when she screamed. He missed the tree branch he was reaching for and fell. I think they were in a second story bedroom. The clothes and furniture were old-fashioned. The furniture was Western style. I don't know what era."

"Interesting. The building is obviously not a two story now. Maybe it was deconstructed at some stage and rebuilt." Oliver mused.

"When did Yasu say this house was originally built?" Mai asked.

"1925 I believe." Oliver responded.

"Tell him to go back and look further back. I feel like the dream took place closer to 1920 than that. Lin, can you escort me to the bathroom? I really need to scrub myself clean after that dream." Mai climbed out of bed and moved to grab her toiletry bag before Oliver snagged her wrist gently in his hand. Mai looked down at him then.

"Are you OK? First person dreams aren't pleasant. Wasn't Gene with you?"

Mai smiled gently at Oliver before pulling her wrist loose and patting his shoulder. "I'm OK Naru. I'll feel better after my shower. Gene wasn't there for this one. I think one of the female spirits must have pulled me in this time." She proceeded to leave the room with Lin escorting her to the bathroom.

They returned to the bedroom to drop off her toiletry bag before heading over to meet Oliver at the base. Yasuhara had been dismissed to catch up on sleep on Oliver's arrival so Lin quickly dropped into his chair in front of the monitors to look over the activity from the night. Oliver dragged Mai to the kitchen for tea.

It was while Mai was filling the tea pots with the freshly boiled water and putting the tea leaves into the strainer for steeping that Oliver did the first strange thing. He came up behind Mai and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on hers. Mai stilled in shock. "Naru?" She asked quietly.

"I'm sorry, Mai. I'm not exactly good at comforting people especially when others are watching. I know your dream wasn't easy to live through and my baka brother wasn't there to protect you either." Oliver mumbled quietly against her hair.

'Ah, he's feeling guilty,' Mai thought. Placing her own hands over his, she leaned back slightly into his embrace for a moment and then finished making the tea. She made no move to pull out of his arms. Oliver rarely ever showed a physical response to situations so Mai felt it was better to wait until he felt ready to drop them himself. He did so, reluctantly stepping away, once Mai had finished the tea and lifted the tray. Taking the tray from her hands, Oliver led the way back to base and set it on the coffee table in front of the seating area.

By this time the others other than Yasuhara, had started to trickle into base, gratefully grabbing their cup of tea as Mai handed them out. Lin made no comment about the scene he'd witnessed through the camera set up in the kitchen. The pair deserved some privacy, after all.

After breakfast and a rehash of Mai's dream, Ayako and Takigawa were sent to take more room temperature measurements. John and Masako were sent for another round of sensing spirits. Yasuhara, who had woken up by then, was sent on another research stint at the local library. This time looking for any records prior to 1925.

Oliver's next strange action took place when everyone else but Lin was out of the room. Lin was facing the monitors so he had his back to Mai who was sitting on the far end of the couch working on class work. Oliver picked up his files and plonked himself down on the couch beside her. He wasn't exactly close enough for their legs to touch but it was a near thing. Mere inches separated them. He flung his arm on the couch behind her as he opened his files with his other hand and began reading.

Mai stopped studying her class work briefly in surprise, raising an eyebrow at him before deciding to ignore him and concentrating on her work. She wasn't sure what was up with Oliver that morning but she felt it was better to not bring attention to the odd behaviour for now. They continued on in the manner for the next half hour with Oliver occasionally playing with a strand of Mai's hair as his arm rested on the back of couch and Lin peeking the occasional glance at them in amusement.

It was a surprisingly comfortable situation to Oliver. He had been sure that Mai was going to protest at his closeness when she first looked at him. Then she proceeded to ignore his behaviour. That annoyed him a little which is why he'd started playing with a strand of her hair. It was petty but he was hoping for a reaction from her. Apart from the occasional shuffling in her seat as she worked he got nothing. At least she didn't protest and at one point her shuffling had managed to press her leg and hip right up against his own. He could feel the warmth of her body soaking into his own.

That was about the point when the other pairs came back from their rounds. As they stared, Mai expected Oliver to suddenly withdraw and head to a separate chair but he didn't. Instead when Masako moved to sit next to him on the couch Oliver lifted up Mai, shifted into her seat so that he was now in the corner and tucked her back into his side with his arm still around her waist.

Ignoring everyone's shock, Oliver then proceeded to demand a report of everyone's rounds. Apart from slightly lower temperatures in some of the bedrooms there was very little activity. After their reports Lin noticed one of the cameras in a spare bedroom had malfunctioned and went to go check it. He came back grumbling that the cable had been unplugged and dragged halfway out of the room.

Apparently, the others couldn't hold it in anymore. Their curiosity into Oliver's odd behaviour was too strong.

"So, um, is Naru possessed or something?" Ayako asked tentatively.

"No, " came Oliver's blunt reply.

The others looked at each other.

"Then... Is there a couple announcement that we missed?" Takigawa asked.

"Only your own with Ayako." Mai responded in a sing-song voice. Ayako and Takigawa blushed at that. It was enough of a distraction to take the attention off herself and Oliver, if only temporarily.

Yasuhara chose that moment to come back after his research. Raising an eyebrow at Mai and Oliver's closeness, he proceeded to report his findings while handing a file to Oliver.

"You were right Mai. In 1921 a 19 year girl was raped in what was then a two story western style house. Her rapist almost killed her with strangulation before her mother scared him as he was climbing back out of a bedroom. He hit his head against the tree trunk as he fell, killing him instantly. The girl died an hour later. Too much damage to her throat. Her parents tore the house down after that and sold the land. The new owner built the current house in 1924."

"Do we know the name of the rapist?" Oliver asked.

"His name was Fuwa Shugerai" answered Yasuhara, absentmindedly studying Oliver's arm around Mai's waist now that he was in a position to see it. He waved an arm in their direction while looking up at the others. "So, anyone going to explain this?"

Mai groaned with her face in her hands and a light blush on her cheeks. "There's nothing to explain."

"Sure looks like nothing." Yasuhara smirked.

Mai opted to go back to concentrating on her class work. She had almost finished it before Oliver had decided to lift her up while swapping their seats and she wanted to get it finished before he decided it was cup of tea time.

Unfortunately, Oliver must have read her mind because he stood up, pulling her with him. Only stopping to pick up the tea tray that was still sitting on the coffee table with one hand, he grabbed her hand with the other and pulled her behind him out the base door and towards the kitchen.

Mai didn't bother arguing with him. She quietly filled the kettle with water and set it to boil while she washed the tea pots and cups for the next round of tea. Oliver surprisingly helped by drying them and setting them back on the tray for use. Mai was only partially surprised when Oliver repeated his actions from the early hours of the morning by wrapping both his arms loosely around her waist from behind and resting his head back on hers while she set the tea leaves to steep.

"They can see us on camera." Mai said to him quietly.

"I know. You don't mind?" Oliver replied just as quietly.

"You mean about your new need for contact?" Oliver nodded. "Not really. I figured you would tell me when you were ready."

"Thank you" Oliver whispered so quietly that Mai wasn't even sure she heard it before he lifted up the tea tray with one hand while guiding Mai out of the room with the other.

Whatever Oliver was going through at that moment, he very rarely let Mai out of his sight and even less out of range of contact. He seemed to seek Mai out subconsciously to the annoyance of Masako and the amusement of every one else. Mai quietly ignored the whole situation, letting Oliver lead in all actions that involved contact so as not to scare him off or overwhelm him. She suspected that Lin had been sneaking the odd photo but made no mention of it.

Mai was starting to get a headache from Masako's constant whining and snarky comments though and desperately wanted a nap. Seeing other people's lives in her dreams was not really sleeping. Instead it was a form of astral projecting so she often needed proper sleep later during the day to catch up on sleep. Quietly she got up from the couch were she was sitting. "Naru, my head is killing me. I'm heading back to the bedroom. I need a nap, OK?"

Oliver studied her face for a moment, noting the signs of strain and tiredness that were visible, before nodding and following along behind her.

Mai didn't bother getting under her blanket. She just kicked off her shoes and curled up on her side with her eyes closed. Her eyes sprang open a few moments later when she felt Oliver settle on the bed directly behind her. He had a book in one hand that he was apparently going to read while she napped. Noticing Mai staring wide-eyed at him, he brushed her eyes closed gently with a "Go to sleep Baka." So Mai did.

There were no dreams this time, thankfully. Mai slept for a couple of hours with Oliver reading quietly on the bed beside her. At one stage, Mai had turned over and curled up against him, throwing an arm over his stomach in her sleep. Rather than pushing her away, Oliver resettled himself in a more comfortable position so he could wrap an arm around her as he read and moving her head to his shoulder and her arm up higher to rest on his chest. One of her legs rested against his.

Oliver was grateful that Mai wasn't pushing for answers. He barely understood his own behaviour. Since finding out that Mai wasn't in love with his brother, something inside had seem to unclench. The resultant need to constantly touch her was intense for the young man who hated touch normally. He didn't crave anyone else's touch. Any of Masako's advances made him feel sick which was what caused the whole seat swap fiasco earlier that day.

Oliver glanced down at Mai's peacefully sleeping face. She looked more relaxed. The slight signs of strain and tiredness he'd seen before her nap had faded. Very slowly and completely unsure what he was doing or why, Oliver brushed his lips against her hair line before turning back to his book. The faint scent of green apples from her hair made him smile slightly. The scent was so obviously Mai and for some reason made him happy. Probably because it was his favourite fruit. He wondered briefly if she chose the scent of her shampoo because she knew that. Thinking back however, he feels like she's always had that scent. He vaguely remembered smelling green apple from her both times he'd been close enough to smell it during the two school cases in their first year of them working together.

A slight moan alerted Oliver to Mai who was beginning to stir and he looked down to watch a blush cross her cheeks as her eyes flutter open.

Mai felt warm and strangely comfortable. Her head was resting on someone's shoulder with an arm holding her close while her own arm appeared to resting against their (very firm) chest. One of her legs appeared to have been flung over the other person's leg. Mai blushed as she remembered that Oliver had settled on the bed with her and was more than likely the one she had cuddled up to in her sleep. How embarrassing. She opened her eyes only to realise Oliver was watching her with a soft and strangely vulnerable look on his face.

"Hey" she whispered to him, making no move to pull away.

"Hey back. Did you have a good nap?" Oliver whispered in return. For some reason he was just as reluctant to pull away as Mai was. He watched her lips as they shaped her response to his question, barely hearing her answer. He was so focused on them, that he didn't realise how close his head had drifted to hers until his lips were suddenly touching hers gently.

The shock of their kiss made both their eyes widen briefly before they drifted shut. Oliver unconsciously dropping his book on the floor and lifting his hand to entangle in her hair and bring Mai closer. Their gentle kiss grew heated and Mai soon found herself gasping for air, flat on her back, under Oliver's equally panting body. She had no clue how they'd even got to that position and from the looks of it, Oliver didn't either.

They were just sitting up when Ayako and Takigawa opened their bedroom door.

"It's dinner time... Did we interrupt something?" Takigawa asked with a raised eyebrow at both their red faces and rumpled clothing.

"N... No. We're coming." Mai stuttered out as she climbed off the bed and straightened her clothes. "I only just woke up."

Oliver said nothing as he straightened his own clothes and followed her out the bedroom door. However his grab of her hand as they walked down the hallway towards base, wasn't missed by either Ayako or Takigawa and they glanced at each other in surprise before quietly following behind them.


	3. Chapter Three: Life Changing

Mai and Oliver were on monitor watch that night. While the others drifted off to bed, Mai relaxed in front of the monitors while Oliver discussed the case with Gene through the mirror with the occasional input from Mai.

Apart from the sounds of various females screaming throughout the day and the odd missing or malfunctioning equipment, the spirits had been quiet. It had them all on edge waiting for an attack to happen. When it finally did occur, it was so subtle they barely knew it had happened.

Gene was the first to notice the change in Oliver and was quick to warn Mai. She turned around to watch Oliver's noticeably jerky movements as he walked across the room to shut and lock the base door. Mai hadn't even realised it had been left open. That meant the talisman ward barrier hadn't been fully active all night. It was hard for a spirit to possess Oliver but past experience showed that it wasn't impossible. A particularly strong spirit could do it although getting full control of his body was another matter.

Mai watched as the spirit turned to face her. There was a look in his face that let her know something bad was about to happen even while she could see Oliver fighting for control. Mai waited quietly as the spirit walked jerkily over to where she sat in front of the monitors. Quietly she told Gene where he stood frozen in the mirror watching "Don't watch." Just to make sure, she threw a spare blanket over the mirror.

She made no noise as the spirit forced Oliver's body to strip her of her lower clothes and she didn't fight him when the spirit forced Oliver to take her innocence. She wanted to lessen the horror or the event as much as possible for both their sakes.

It was only after the spirit had finished and was wrapping his hands around her neck that Mai spoke.

"Shugarei, why do you need to do this? Don't you know that you're dead? Why not leave this place and move on?"

Oliver's voice had a deep but dead sounding tone as the spirit responded. "I'm dead? But when did I die?" Oliver's hand relaxed from around her neck at the spirit responded.

"You died in 1921 after falling out of the window. Why did you attack that girl?" Mai kept her tone calm and measured as she spoke.

"I had been watching her from a far. I fell in love with her and she didn't even know I existed. I just wanted her to love me back. I thought if I showed her how much I loved her, she'd love me in return. Then I saw the disgust and fear in her face and I wanted to wipe it away. I guess that's when I strangled her. I was still in shock when her mother frightened me by screaming. I don't remember anything else."

"You can't force love to happen. It will either be returned naturally, or it won't. If it isn't returned, you should let it go and move on. Find someone else. Perhaps you can find someone better to love you in your next life?" Mai placed a comforting hand on Oliver's arm.

The spirit turned to look at her then and something in him seemed to become brighter. He smiled and whispered "Thank you" as he left Oliver's body and rose towards the bright golden light that seemed to be calling him. As Mai caught Oliver's body, she could feel when all the female spirits realised they were free and moved on as well. Whispers of "thank you" floated in her ear as they left.

Resting Oliver on the ground gently, Mai cleaned herself up and redressed herself before she turned around and cleaned and made Oliver presentable as well. Then she carefully knelt on the floor and rested Oliver's head in her lap. She gently brushed his hair off his face, not even noticing the tears down her cheeks. Before drifting off to sleep herself.

Both teens were startled awake at the banging on the base door and the frantic yelling behind it. Oliver found himself staring up at Mai's face. He raised a hand to brush her tear streaked cheek. "Are you alright?"

Mai nodded in response. "I'm fine. We had better let them in before they break the door down."

Oliver hesitated for a second. Reluctant to leave her alone. Sitting up he brushed a soft kiss to her lips. Both remembered the horror that had occurred the night before but thankfully Mai didn't jerk away. She returned the kiss before pulling away and standing up. Putting a hand down to help Oliver up before they crossed the room to unlock the door together.

The other's were in a state of panic as the pair opened the door. All they knew of the situation was Masako telling them the spirits seemed to have left in the night and that Mai and Oliver were locked in base.

They were panicked further when they noticed the bruising around Mai's neck despite her brushing it off. Oliver left it to Mai to report the events of the night. He was possessed for most of it and even if he could remember it all, he wasn't sure how much she wanted the others to know. All he could do was wrap his arms around her in comfort as she spoke in a slightly monotone voice.

"Whoever was last out the base door last night left the door open. The spirit possessed Naru sometime around 11 pm. He locked the door and then proceeded to attack me. I talked him out of killing me and into moving on. The female spirits left soon after he did."

It was all she cared to say on the matter and she refused to explain further. Oliver didn't blame her and he didn't answer any more information than what she'd already told them. He knew at some point they would need to discuss the attack but both felt that it had nothing to do with the others and wanted to keep the information private.

Despite the spirits being gone, Oliver still accompanied Mai to the kitchen to prepare tea for everyone. He switched off the camera in there for privacy. Stopping Mai's movements, he turned her to face him and pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. Mai responded by wrapping her arms around him in turn. "I'm sorry." He whispered in her ear as he tucked his face into her neck.

"It's OK, Naru. I know it wasn't you. I could see you visibly fighting the spirit's control. There was nothing more you could have done."

Oliver tightened his arms around as she spoke. Even if he wasn't in control of his body at the time, he was still present during her attack. Despite the horror, he could still remember the tight soft warm heat around him, still remember the pleasure of his body's release. And he craved it. He craved more. And he felt despicable for it.

It was a long time before Oliver released her from his hug with a gentle kiss on her hairline. Mai had to reboil the kettle since the water had gone cold. She was glad she hadn't started steeping the leaves yet. She didn't have to replace them with fresh ones.

Nobody said a word about the Mai's attack, Oliver turning off the camera or the absurdly long time they'd taken to make tea. They drunk their tea, packed up their things and began to collect the equipment. They found the missing cables and other items under a bed in one of the unused rooms.

The ride back to the office was long and quiet. A journey of 4 hours. Well, 5 hours you count the stop for brunch. Mai sat in the van between Lin and Oliver. For once, she didn't fidget or bounce in boredom, nor did she whine or fall asleep. Instead she sat quietly watching the scenery pass with Oliver's hand gently clasping hers.

The unpacking of the equipment back in the office moved faster in comparison. They were done within an hour. As the others drifted away home, Mai stopped at her desk to check the phone messages and post for anything urgent. Nothing came up that couldn't wait for the next day and Lin was in his office typing up the reports for the case so she wouldn't have to file them until tomorrow. Oliver had ducked into his office although he'd left his door open for a change.

Feeling reluctant to leave, she boiled the kettle to start some tea for the three of them. Placing the three cups on the tray after preparing them, she knocked on Lin's door before opening it and placing a cup on his desk.

"Thank you Mai-san. Before you leave, you need to know that I'm going to need a more in depth report of the events from last night for the case file. I understand that it's not something you want the other to know and we'll keep it confidential but it needs to be done."

Lin's voice was gentle but Mai still froze at his words. "I understand Lin-san. I'll be in the waiting room once I've taken Naru his tea." Mai left quietly, shutting his door behind her before knocking on Oliver's already open door.

"Tea, Naru. And Lin-san wants a more formal report on last night than what I provided this morning to the others. I said I'll wait for him in the waiting room once I leave your office."

Carefully she placed his tea on his desk before looking at him. Oliver had stood up from his chair as she spoke and walked around his desk to her. Taking the tray with her lone cup of tea on it and placing it on his desk, he took her in his arms to hug her. "It's up to you. If you are OK telling him then do so. Do you want me to sit in on it?"

"I would appreciate it, if you could. Maybe you could provide more details than I can for certain points."

"Then I'll come with you." He picked up the tray with her tea and readded his own to it before guiding her out of his office and into the waiting room. Lin was already seated in his usual chair with his laptop ready, his cup of tea sitting on the table in front of him.

He sat her down on the couch in front of Lin, placed their cups on the table in front of her and then sat down beside her. He wrapped an arm around her waist in support and allowed her to cling to his other hand with both of hers.

Lin said little as they spoke of the events of that night, only rarely asking a quiet question for clarification when things came out unclear or jumbled up. He was patient and let them take their time. Mai had to stop at one point to calm down before she could continue. Neither man blamed her for that.

Oliver filled in what he could, admitting that he remembered everything that happened. He was grateful that Mai had done what she could to lessen the ordeal for both of them, including covering the mirror to prevent Gene from seeing it. The last thing Oliver needed for for his older brother to witness such a violent act.

Lin was quietly impressed after hearing the young lady's story. It takes a rare woman to not only handle the situation calmly but to not suffer a response from the trauma afterwards. Especially considering that the attack was committed by the body of the man she appeared to love deeply. Being able to still accept Oliver's touch after such an event without flinching took a lot of guts. When they finished their story and he had finished typing it up, he spoke.

"Thank you for being brave enough to make the report, Mai. You don't have to worry. No one else will read the report without your permission. It will be kept confidential unless absolutely necessary."

Mai wiped her face and picked up their now empty cups for washing. Oliver waited until she was done before suggesting that he drive her home. Mai agreed. Lin stayed behind to close up the office. He had his own car anyway.

Once at Mai's apartment, Oliver escorted her to her door carrying her bags. She invited him in for another tea and he ended up staying for dinner as well. The evening was full of quiet conversation punctuated with soft kisses. Oliver didn't push for anything further than that before finally leaving to head back to his own apartment.

Mai had classes the next day so it was late in the afternoon before she entered the SPR office. She placed her bag under her desk where she usually kept it and headed into the kitchen to make the usual tea. She left a cup on Lin's desk after knocking on his door to alert him of her entrance. A grateful "thank you" followed her out the door as she shut it behind her. Then placing her own cup on her desk she carried Oliver's cup to his office, knocking the door as she entered.

Oliver was on the phone when she entered with his cup of tea but he greeted her with a smile and stood up to kiss her cheek as she placed his cup on the desk. He held her wrist before she could leave the room motioning for her to wait as he finished up his phone call.

As soon as he'd placed the phone back on the cradle, Oliver was pulling Mai towards him for a hug and another kiss, this time on her lips, before he finally let her leave his office and get on with her work.

The afternoon moved fast. She received a kiss every time she brought him a cup of tea. She guessed it was his version of thank you. He never shut his door unless there was a potential client or the SPR irregulars turned up at which point he came out to join them anyway. At the end of the day he took Mai home again. Once again spending the evening with her although he took her out for dinner that night.

The next three weeks followed a similar pattern. They never formalised their relationship but it was quietly acknowledged that they were exclusive. Much to Masako's disappointment. She didn't stop trying to get Oliver's attention but it happened far less often than it used to and appeared more half-hearted when she did.

Mai was surprised that Oliver's attention never waned. Instead it grew more intense. Their kisses grew more demanding and it took a great deal of his control to not push for more than Mai was ready to give. Eventually he began staying the night although they never went further than kisses and light caressing. They would share breakfast together before Oliver would drop her off at school and head to the office.

It was during their fourth week together that they took the final step in physical relationship. They took it as slow as they could considering the heightened sense of passion both of them had towards each other. Oliver tried to make their first consential time together everything that their first non-consential time wasn't.

Quite a feat considering that neither of them were experienced in such activities. With practice they got better. Learning each other's cues and the different responses to different actions consumed a lot of their private time. It honestly felt like neither of them could get enough of the other.

Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end and this time was no different. Oliver's parents demanded that he come home to England to attend the annual semester at Cambridge that was part of their agreement for him staying in Japan for the rest of the year. He would be gone for six months and despite promises of daily phone calls, emails and text messages, both were feeling troubled about being separated for so long.

Three months into their relationship, Oliver left on a plane back to England just as Madoka arrived to manage the office in his absence.

Two weeks after Oliver left, Mai was sitting on the lid of her toilet, staring in shock at a little white stick with two pink lines.


	4. Chapter Four: Pregnancy Danger

She couldn't tell him.

Well, she couldn't tell anyone at the moment. It wasn't fair to tell anyone else before she'd told Oliver about their baby.

It had been a month since Mai had taken that test. She had gone to see a doctor that she knew wasn't associated with Ayako for privacy. She had done bloods to confirm that there was a baby, been proscribed prenatal vitamins, been given a strict list of foods to avoid, advice about taking light exercise and being careful of lifting heavy objects, and had her very first ultrasound. There wasn't too much to see yet. Pretty much just a funny looking shadowy blob with distinctive head, arms and legs shapes. But the heart rate was strong and the baby was healthy so far. The scan had just been done the day before and placed the baby in its 10th week. She'd have to go back in a few weeks for the anatomy one.

Standing in front of her bedroom mirror in her underwear, staring at her reflection, Mai couldn't see any hugely visible sign of the baby growing in her tummy. Her breasts had gotten a little fuller looking and there was the slightest curve to her abdomen. But nothing that anyone would notice at first, second or even third glance even if she was naked. Never mind while she was clothed.

Mai sighed. All she wanted to do was tell Oliver about the baby. But it wasn't something she could bring up out of the blue and him being in England right now made things even harder. There was always someone in the background of their video calls. It seriously didn't help matters that lately the background held that bloody Masako.

Masako had taken advantage of the fact that Mai wasn't going to travel to England with Oliver, to follow him herself. For one thing, Mai was still at school, even if there was only a few more months to go until graduation. For another, Oliver's parents weren't aware of his and Mai's relationship yet. So Masako had taken full advantage to press her advances onto Oliver in the hopes he would abandon Mai and turn to her. Mai wasn't sure how Masako was getting away with avoiding her own studies while being in a different country completely but it made for frustrating calls where nothing private or romantic could be said.

Mai couldn't even ask Gene to pass on a message for her. He'd followed Oliver back to England, so all her visits to the astral plane and all her dreams were alone and guideless. Well, that wasn't something he could control, being Oliver's dead twin and all, even if he was her spirit guide. Still the fact that she was even having dreams, without Gene to guide her, meant that her ESP talents seemed to be growing.

Another month and a half passed and Mai still hadn't managed to tell Oliver about the baby. She was now at 16 weeks, in her second trimester, and she still wasn't showing in any obvious way. Mai thanked the strick diet restrictions, the moderate morning sickness, and her moderate exercise regime for that. Still it wouldn't be long before she would start showing. Having not told Oliver yet, she certainly couldn't tell the others at SPR.

Thankfully none of the cases that Madoka took were overly dangerous. Mostly just basic poltergeist activities caused by stressed teenage girls or non-aggressive ghosts who only wanted to make sure their loved ones were OK and managed to scare them in the process. However, as Mai was washing her breakfast dishes before leaving for school, she had an intense feeling that would be changing soon.

The next day, a tired Mai trudged up the stairs to the SPR office after school to find a frightened looking couple standing at the top staring hesitantly at the door. She watched them for a moment, noting the tension signs visible on their bodies before placing a smile on her face and speaking to them quietly so as to not frighten them too much by appearing behind them.

"Welcome to SPR. I'm Taniyama Mai, an investigator. Can I help you?"

The couple still jumped slightly at Mai's voice but were visibly relieved to see a young girl behind them and not whatever had them frightened enough to come to SPR.

"I'm Watanabe Nobu. This is my wife, Watanabe Yuuki. I'm sorry. Our story is going to sound very strange."

Mai smiled as she moved past them to open the door. "That's all right. We're used to strange stories at SPR and have many of our own. Why don't you come in and sit down while I put my stuff away and get the manager. Would you like something to drink? Tea? Coffee?" Mai pointed to the couch.

"Tea, if it wouldn't be too much trouble." Nobu replied. Yuuki nodded in agreement.

"Not at all. I'll just be a few minutes. Please take a seat."

Dropping her stuff on her desk, she moved into the kitchen to fill and turn on the kettle before knocking on Madoka's door, and opening it.

"Madoka, we have a Mr and Mrs Watanabe here. They seem to have a case for us. I'm just making everyone some tea and then I'll join you."

"Hey Mai. Could you get Koujo too please?" Madoka responded with a huge smile and Mai nodded before knocking on Lin's door, letting him know that they had a client and Madoka had requested his presence. Then Mai drifted back into the kitchen to finish making the tea and a cup of coffee for Lin, stopped at her desk to collect a pen and note pad and then joined the others at the seating area and distributing the cups.

Lin smiled gratefully at Mai in thanks on receiving his coffee rather than tea like he'd been expecting. Mai had obviously picked up the signs of Lin needing something other than tea in their brief conversation moments before. It was something that both he and Oliver had noticed before Oliver had to go back for his obligatory semester in England. Mai's intuition was getting stronger as was her ESP if her latest dreams without Gene were a guide.

Mai sat down next to Madoka and placed her notepad and pen in her lap.

"Watanabe-san, this is Mori Madoka, our manager, and Lin Koujo, her assistant and another investigator. Lin, Madoka this is Watanabe Nobu and Watanabe Yuuki. Watanabe-san, why don't you start from the beginning?"

"Oh, call us by our first names please, otherwise it'll be confusing." Nobu began.

"It started three months ago. At first there were just random cold spots and knocking sounds that we put down to structural origins. We brought an old home that we're in the process of renovating. That's what we do. Buy old properties to renovate them and then on sell them when we're done. It's not unusual for old pipes to make similar sounds when there is air in them or for air to get through cracks to cause cold spots. So we ignored it."

"But then things started to go missing. We've had to replace numerous tools that disappear whenever we turn our backs. Our insurance company are beginning to think we're selling the tools and making false claims." Yuuki continued on.

"Then we started hearing a baby cry. We don't have any children yet and no one we have contracted to come in do either."

"Has anyone been attacked or hurt during this time?" Madoka asked.

Nobu nodded. "Yes, Yuuki was a month ago and one of our interior designers was a week ago. Suki's still in hospital. Both were pushed down the stairs by an unknown entity."

"Is there anything that connects to two of you? Something you both share or have in common other than being females?" Mai asked and received a sideways glance from Lin at that.

"Actually, yes, both Suki and I were pregnant. We both miscarried as a result of being pushed down the stairs."

Mai's face drained of all colour. It took all of her restraint to not put her hand on her tummy in a protective manner. Her face paling could be passed off as sympathy for the client. Touching her tummy. That would be a dead giveaway to something more. Her voice shook a little as she asked the next question quietly.

"How far along were you both?"

"Suki had just reached her second trimester. I was nearly in the third."

"I'm sorry for your loss. Suki's too." Madoka spoke softly as Mai took a trembling sip of her tea to try and calm down. The Watanabes just nodded.

"Do you know anything about the history of the house you bought?" Lin asked.

"It was built just before the second World War by a newly wed couple. The husband was sent away to war when it broke out and died in one of the later battles. The wife died three months after he was shipped out. I'm not sure how though." Nobu answered. "They didn't have any children of their own so it went to a younger sister of the husband. She raised a family there and it passed through to her oldest son. He sold it to me four months ago and there we are."

"All right. Please leave your address and contact details with Mai. We'll arrive on Friday morning to start investigating. Mai, call in the others and tell Masako to come back. Her vacation is over." Madoka said as she and Lin got upup and with a polite bow, left the room.

Mai smiled in reassurance to the Watanabes and took their information before showing them out the door. She then picked up the cups and took them into the kitchen to wash before moving to her desk to start contacting the others. It was only Tuesday so Masako had plenty of time to come back and get into Japan time before the case started. Before phoning her, Mai booked Masako's flight, first class of course, leaving a sulky Masako with no choice but to return as requested.

That night, as Mai settled into bed she heard a curious voice in her head.

_"Mama?"_

Mai froze with a hand on her tummy.

_"Baby?" _She thought back.

_"Mama!" _The baby's voice confirmed with excitement. _"Mama. Mama. Mama."_

Mai was a little freaked but also excited at hearing her baby's voice in her head.

_"I'm here, baby. I love you_. _It's all right. Are you a boy or girl, baby?"_

_"Boy, Mama!"_ Mai felt a flutter like movement in her tummy at the same time as his reply. Her baby was excited.

_"Oh, I'm so happy! I'm sure Daddy will be happy too. What should I call you, baby? Do you have any names that you like?"_

_"Mama decide!"_

Mai tapped a finger on her cheek as she thought. _"Hmmmm... Then... What... About... Daiki? It means the noble one, filled with radiance and light. Do you like that, baby?"_

_"Daiki, like, Mama!"_

_"Im glad, Daiki, but now Mummy needs to get some sleep, OK? We'll talk some more tomorrow. Night Daiki. Mummy loves you."_

_"Night Mama. Daiki love Mama."_

Mai drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face and a hand on her tummy.

The next few days were full of school, homework, office work and talking to Daiki in their mental communication. Both Madoka and Lin noticed Mai was slightly distracted but glowing in happiness. Neither understood why but assumed something good had happened.

On Thursday afternoon, the office was fuelled with all of their irregulars for a briefing on their new case. Masako was still sulking at having to come back and having been unsuccessful at her personal mission to win over Oliver with her affections. She ignored the green tea, Mai placed in front her, despite it being her favourite. She wanted nothing from her rival.

Madoka began briefing the case.

"OK, so what we know. The house was built just before the WW2 by a newly wed couple. The husband went to war and died during the war. The wife died not long after he was shipped out. The house passed to his younger sister and then to her oldest son who sold it to our clients, the Watanabes, four months ago. Our clients started renovating the house three months ago.

They've had knocking sounds and cold spots, tools disappearing, heard babies crying and two women have been pushed down the stairs while in their second trimester resulting in a miscarriage."

"How horrible! Just as well none of us are pregnant or we'll be a target." Ayako said.

Mai kept quiet and sipped her tea. She'd just have to be extra careful on this case and try to get hold of Oliver as soon as she could. It was so frustrating, even with Masako gone, Oliver never seemed to have privacy when ever they made their calls. It was a wonder that his parents still didn't know about their relationship, they seemed to assume that their calls were about work!

Later that night, Mai wasn't happy about not being able to talk privately and Oliver had finally noticed her mood during that night's call. Unfortunately, Mai would be leaving early tomorrow for a case so there would be even less privacy on her side for the next few days. She was honestly tossing up about just sending him an email with the scan photo attached, she was getting that desperate. Here she was talking to their unborn child and she still hadn't told Oliver about Daiki. Thinking further on that thought, Mai decided to actually do it.

It took her a while to get the wording exactly how she wanted it. Telling him how far along she was, and that Daiki could talk to her through a mental connection. Explaining why it had taken so long for her to tell him. How happy she was and that she hoped he'd be happy about Daiki too. She attached the last scan photo into the email, took a deep breath and sent the email. Hopefully Oliver wouldn't be too upset at being told in this way.

Looking at the time. Oliver was probably in class and wouldn't respond any time soon. So Mai finished packing the things she'd need during the case, check that her alarm was set on the loudest setting and went to sleep.

The next morning, Mai had found no response from Oliver to her email. He must have been too busy to see it. Shrugging her shoulders and wishing Daiki a good morning, Mai got ready to leave, making sure everything that needed to be turned off was, and locking everything else that needed locking while she was away before grabbing her things and locking the door behind her. Mai headed towards the office for their case.

On the other side of the world, an extremely shocked Oliver had just finished reading the email that Mai had apparently sent him 16 hours before; and was now staring at a scan photo of their baby son at 10 weeks old that was taken nearly 7 weeks prior. He didn't know why he didn't notice the email when it was first sent but now he knew why Mai was getting so frustrated at not being able to talk to him privately.

Their baby. Daiki. She shouldn't even know what gender their baby was. Since she was at least 2 to 4 weeks too early for an anatomy scan. But apparently their baby could talk to her through a mental connection. Staring at the scan photo, Oliver touched the screen. It was taken from a side view of their baby.

Oliver traced a finger over the outline of a vague face at the top of the head blob. Following the outline, he followed the arms held up high, like they were reaching for something or someone. Over the stomach and down the legs which were positioned in a kicking out motion. There was a vague outline of the back and the neck. Definitely a baby. Their baby. Daiki. Oliver wondered what it meant so he looked it up.

Daiki - the noble one; filled with radiance and light.

'How apt, and how so very Mai.' Oliver smiled at the thought. Printing off the scan photo, Oliver took a breath and went to go tell his adoptive parents the news that not only had he been in a secret relationship for the past half year. A serious relationship at that. But that he was about to be a father and they, by extention, were about to be grandparents. He hoped Luella wouldn't get too excited. She had a tendency to hurt his ears with her level of excitement.

...

**A/N Hi guys. Here's a new chapter for you. Just a few notes about Mai's pregnancy progress, in case it wasn't clear from the scan dates, or you know nothing about pregnancy.**

**\- Mai was already pregnant before Oliver left for England. She took the test 2 weeks after he left. The scan, showing the baby was 10 weeks along, took place 4 weeks after the test. So she was already 6 weeks pregnant at the time of the test.**

**\- Pregnancy generally lasts 40 weeks on average and dates from the first day of the last period until the baby's birth. Conception of a baby takes place in the second week of the pregnancy, as ironic as it sounds. Which means that the baby had been conceived 2 weeks before Oliver left for England. This case takes place while Mai is nearing 17 weeks pregnant.**

**\- The first trimester is considered to be from the conception of the baby to the 12th week. Some doctors consider that first trimester lasts until the 14th week. Second trimester covers from week 12 to week 28. Third trimester from week 29 to birth.**

**-Now I'm not exactly sure how scans work in Japan but in New Zealand a pregnant mother usually has between 3 to 4 scans during pregnancy unless it's considered high risk. The first scan usually takes place around 6 weeks. This is predominantly a dating scan and to check heart rate. The next scan takes place around 12 weeks. This scan checks for possible health risks such as down syndrome. There is a huge focus on neck measurements and the amount of liquid in the womb between the neck and the womb lining. The anatomy scan takes place between 18 to 22 weeks. This checks that the baby is healthy and growing at a reasonable rate. Focus is placed on internal organs as well as length or circumference of each part of the baby. This also the scan parents find out what gender the baby is if they want to know. Sometimes there is a 4th scan between week 30 and week 36. This is only done is there is concern if the baby is too big, too small or not in the head down position.**

**Hope that helps. Catch you next chapter. **


	5. Chapter Five - A Mother's Desperation

**A/N - 'Sup everyone. I'm taking a break from my other story to get this one updated. I've been a little too focused on the other one and too little on this one lately.****Enjoy the new chapter!**

**...**

**"Mother, Father, I have something I need to discuss with you." **Oliver stated from the doorway of the dining room where they sat eating breakfast.

Both Luella and Martin looked at each other briefly before turning to look at Oliver as he dished up his own breakfast from the selection laid out on a side table. His tone had been even more serious than usual.

**"What is it Noll?" **Luella asked her son as he sat down at the dining table.

**"For the last six months I've been seeing someone. The relationship is quite serious, enough so, that I have spent the time I've been back in England thinking of proposing to her as soon as I got back to Japan. I've never been more serious about a woman." **Oliver confessed.

**"Oh, do you mean that cute Japanese girl, Masako, who followed you here?" **Luella giggled.

Oliver grimaced. **"No Mother. Hara-san is nothing more than a desperate hanger on, bordering on stalking. That was the girl who blackmailed me into dates to keep my identity quiet.** **She followed me here hoping to convince me to got for instead since my girlfriend wasn't able to with school.**

**The girl I'm in a relationship with. That I'm in love with, is called Mai Tamiyama. That's the girl I talk to every day on a video call."**

**"You mean your assistant?" **Martin asked to clarify who Oliver was talking about. He had thought there was something to their relationship from all the video calls but anytime he overhead them, they only discussed work.

**"Yes. And she's spent the last two months trying to talk to me privately with no luck. If it wasn't Hara-san interrupting our calls it was the two of you. She ended up sending me an email about her new instead which I just saw this morning."**

Oliver put his fork down and pulled the scan photo from his breast pocket where he'd placed it. He handed it to Luella and picked up his forkfork again. **"This was taken nearly 7 weeks ago. Our son was 10 weeks along at the time. He's 17 weeks along now. Mai was apparently pregnant before I had to leave and she didn't discover she was pregnant until two weeks after I left. His name is Daiki."**

**"She hasn't had an anatomy scan yet? How does she know the baby is a boy?" **Luella asked staring at the scan of her grandson.

**"Daiki has been able to talk to Mai telepathically. Probably in a similar way that Gene and I did. ****He started communicating with her earlier this week." **Oliver ate the last of his breakfast before placing his knife and fork neatly on his now empty plate.

**"What?!" **Both Martin and Luella were shocked.

Luella's tea cup clattered on is saucer where she had dropped it after being in the process of picking it up. The scan photo that was now in Martin's hand floated to the table gently. Oliver reached over to pick it up.

**"I've... never considered what abilities any children yourself or Gene had would be... like." **Martin tilted his head while musing on the possibility of abilities being hereditary.** "Does Mai have abilities of her own?"**

**"Yes, she's a latent ESP and an astral projector. ****She sees the spirits memories through her dreams and has a instinct sensitivity that borderlines clairvoyant.**

**Gene is her spirit guide. He has been since pretty much the day I met herher although I didn't know until I found Gene's body. She's the only other person who can see him and hear him when Gene and I talk through the mirror.**

**Honestly, if it wasn't for a minor confusion on my part, Mai and I could have been together years ago." **Oliver sounded a slightly frustrated with himself as he finished talking.

**"Has she ever shown signs of telepathy?" **Martin asked extremely curious of Mai's abilities.

**"Only in terms of talking with spirits, including Gene. Although it's hard to say. Her abilities seem to be growing stronger all the time." **Oliver considered out loud.

**"Then it would be hard to know whether the ESP has come from her or you at this point, although I'm inclined to lean more towards you at this stage." **Martin was definitely interested in her abilities now. He was half thinking about arranging for Mai to come to England for testing.

Oliver seemed to pick up what Martin was thinking because a stern look crossed his face.** "Don't even think about it, Father. Mai is not a test subject, regardless of how fascinating her abilities are. My girlfriend, and the mother of my son, is off limits to the lab. My son is also off limits."**

Martin grinned sheepishly. His son knew him well.** "Duly noted, son." **

Suddenly Martin's face drained of all colour as he remembered what case the Japanese branch of SPR were on right now. **"Noll! You need to get back to Japan, immediately! Mai's a prime target for the case they're on!"**

**"She's always a target. What case are they on? Mai only told me that they were going on a case, not what it was about." **Oliver was only slightly worried about the situation. It wasn't the first time Mai was a target and wouldn't be that last.

**"Noll, this spirit has already caused two miscarriages by pushing women in the second trimester down the stairs..."**

Martin had barely finished talking before Oliver was out of his chair and booking a flight to Japan. Martin made him book a second ticket. Luella would be going with him. As much as Martin wanted to attend as well, he still had classes to teach. Luella ran to pack Oliver and herself a bag each.

Barely 20 minutes later the three of them were out the door and on their way to the airport. 14 hours later, Luella and Oliver were waiting to exit the just landed plane. As Oliver stepped off the plane a shrill scream resounded in his head. He clutched the side of the terminal in pain as his face drained of all colour.

_"NARU!!!"_

Oliver would know that scream any where. His only question was how was he hearing Mai in his head.

"I'm coming Mai! Hold on!".

As soon as they go through the customs clearance, Oliver was turning on his phone and dialing Lin.

...

Several hours earlier.

_Mai wandered along the second story landing. Her pregnant belly was much bigger than it was in reality. She quickly realised she was dreaming as she noted the differences between the landing she had seen earlier that day on arriving and what she was seeing now. She wore a lemon yellow kimono covered in baby pink blossoms. Her large belly prevented the rose pink obi from sitting properly._

_She was escorted by her sister-in-law. A pretty woman with long black hair and cold black eyes. A cross frown _curved _the woman's lips downwards._

_The woman the Mai was viewing the memories from, didn't like her sister-in-law. They had a complicated relationship. Her sister-in-law was obsessed with her brother, her husband and she resented the fact that he fallen in love with his wife. Mai felt she tolerated the sister for the sake of her husband more than for her own sake._

_The two women had just gotten to the top of the stairs when Mai felt two hands push her down them. Looking back, Mai could see an expression of absolute hatred on the sister-in-law's face, before a stair hit her stomach the wrong way. Another hit her head._

_When Mai landed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs there was heavy bleeding coming from between her legs and her head. One leg was broken as was an arm and a couple of ribs._

_The sister-in-law watched her bleed to death._

_... _

Mai shot up into a sitting position as she woke up from her dream. Her heart was pounding fast. Too fast.

"_Mama?"_

Mai placed a hand in her tummy over her baby. "_It's OK Daiki. Mummy just had a bad dream."_

Daiki nudged her hand in comfort. _"Mama better now?"_

_"Mummy better now.__ Go back to sleep. Mummy is going to get up." _Mai smiled down at the slight bump that was now her tummy. She wore loose clothing to hide it longer.

Getting up, Mai chose day clothes and got dressed in the bathroom after a quick shower. Then she headed a couple of doors down to the base to report her dream.

Base was an office on the first floor as were the two bedrooms that the team slept in. On entering the room she noted that Lin was on the early morning watch. Madoka had taken the evening shift.

Mai headed over to the kitchette in the corner to make Lin a coffee and herself a tea. She covered a yawn with one hand as she waited for the kettle to boil.

Once the cups were ready, Mai carried them over to where Lin sat in front of the monitors and handed him his coffee.

"Thanks. You're up early." Lin looked up at Mai curious.

"I had a dream about the case. I wanted to report it now while it's fresh, rather than forget anything in the morning."

Mai took a much needed sip of her tea while Lin got his laptop ready for her dream report. He nodded to her when he was ready for her to start.

"First person view. I was a mother-to-be walking along the second floor landing. Around mid to late stage of the second trimester. Clothing style of the sister would indicate WW2.

I was with my 'sister-in-law' who was apparently too obsessed with her brother. At the top of the stairs the sister pushed me down them resulting in a miscarriage as well as broken bones in various places and bleeding from a head injury. The sister watched me bleed out."

"Would you assume the woman was the original owner of this house?" Lin asked.

Mai nodded. "I'm pretty sure she is. I'm not sure if she is pushing pregnant women down the stairs in revenge to her sister-in-law, because she's seeking the baby she lost, or because she's trying to tell someone what happened."

Lin nodded before saving the report for Madoka to read later. He finished his coffee as he turned back to the monitors. Mai moved her chair beside him.

"Has there been anything of note tonight?" Mai asked.

"A couple of cold spots. Particularly on the stairs. Nothing much else."

Mai nodded and settled in for a a couple of hours of monitor watching before the others would wake up and join them.

Several hours later, Mai was staring up the stairs nervously. Madako had asked her to check on the camera in one of the second level bedrooms that had the owners had specificied as a hot spot for tools disappearing. The camera had been moved and Madoka wanted it put back in place.

Mai placed a firm grip on the banister and climbed hurriedly up the stairs. Not that going up was the problem. It was coming down that Mai really needed to be careful of. Once at the top, she headed to the bedroom with the floor wayward camera and fixed it.

Coming back, Mai felt a sense of foreboding. She took a deep breath, held the banister tightly with both hands and took her first hesitant step down. The push happened on the second step.

Mai screamed as she fell down the stairs. Unable to prevent herself from habit, she screamed for Oliver in her head. She had only just told him about Daiki and now she might lose him!

Suddenly her fall halted. Mai was suspended in mid air, shock on her face. Looking up at the top of the stairs she could see a spirit in a yellow and pink kimono staring at her hatefully.

That was about the point when the others ran into the ground floor hallway where the stairs were located. They stared at Mai completely stunned as she floated in mid air half way down the stairs.

Everyone was quiet for a moment before the noisy commotion started.

"Mai!" Lin and Masako.

"Mai! Are you alright?" Takigawa.

"Mai, what happened? How'd you end up floating like that?" "Madoka

"Mai, are you able to come down?" Ayako.

"Mai, why did the spirit attack you? I thought it only attacked pregnant women?" Trust Yasuhara to point out the most critical issue of the attack.

Mai put up a hand to make them stop. "I'll tell you when I finally get down. If I can get down, that is..."

She thought of something then. _"Daiki, did you make Mummy gloat?"__"Yes, Mama. Mama was scared. Daiki was scared. Daiki wanted to save Mama and Daiki."__"Thank you Daiki. Do you think you can carefully lower me down the stairs to the ground floor?"__"Daiki try Mama, but Daiki not sure what to do."__"First, try to focus your energy on floating us to the bottom of the stairs."_There was a few minutes of nothing and then unsteadily at first, very slowly, Mai drifted down the stairs. The others stayed silent as she floated down, not wanting to break her concentration, assuming it was Mai who had done this. She halted again once she was level with the ground.

_"Now what Mama? What does Daiki do next?"__"Now, Daiki, you need to lower me until my feet touch the ground. After that you can release your energy."__"Daiki try." _

After a minute or two, Mai was firmly back on the ground.

_"Well done Daiki! Mummy is so proud of you!"__"Daiki tired now Mama."__"Yes, Daiki worked hard. Go to sleep. Mummy will take it from here." _

Mai turned to look back up the stairs. The woman's spirit was still there. She didn't look angry anymore. Just curious.

"Are you here for revenge or are you looking for your baby?" Mai asked, glaring at her for attempting to hurt her baby.

The others looked up the stairs. Most couldn't see anything. Lin's shiki reported the presence of a spirit where Mai stood glaring. Masako gasped. She hadn't even noticed the presence of the spirit until Mai turned to glare at her.

"Both. I didn't get to tell my husband about the baby before his sister killed us both."

"So you tried to take someone elses?! Why? Your sister-in-law is dead now. Your husband and baby are waiting for you in the afterlife. Why stay here?" Mai's tone was angry.

"They're waiting... for me?" The woman stood unsure.

"Yes, can you see the light? Look closely. They're waiting there for you." Mai was confident but kind to her then.

The woman glowed as she turned towards the light. Briefly she looked back at Mai. "Thank you... And I'm sorry. I hope your baby is OK. Give him lots of love please. I never got the chance."

"I will." Mai said softly as she watched the spirit pass on. Soon the atmosphere of the house lightened and seemed to grow warmer.

Lin's phone went off then and he answered it after checking the ID. "Noll?"

"Is Mai alright?" Oliver's panicked voice came through loud enough for the others to hear him despite not being on speaker.

"She's fine. The spirit tried to push her down the stairs but some how instead of falling, Mai ended up floating in mid air. She's back on the ground now and has just finished cleansing the spirit. Everyone is waiting to ask questions." Lin answered him.

"Don't ask questions. Wait until you get back to the office. Tell Madoka to order pack up and head back as fast as you can. I'll be waiting. Oh, and don't let Mai carry anything heavy." Oliver ordered.

"... Got it. We'll see you as soon as we get back to the office." Lin's confused tone resounded as he hung up his phone. "Naru wants us to leave the questions until we get back to the office. He said to order pack up and get back as soon as we can. He'll be waiting for us there. Oh, and Mai, he said you're not allowed to lift anything heavy."

Mai nodded. Madoka looked as if she couldn't wait to ease her curiosity but finally sighed. "You heard the man. Let's pack up and leave."

It took them two hours to pack up their equipment and pack the vehicles of their stuff. Madoka reported to the owners what had happened and that they were all clear now.

Then it took another four hours to drive back to the office, including a stop for dinner. Mai was tired of the curious looks in her direction from Lin and Madoka. She was only glad she was in the van and not Takigawa's car with the others.

By the time they arrived at the office, it was late in the night. The lit office lights shone like a beacon in the otherwise dark.

Quietly and tiredly they opted to leave the equipment in the van rather than unpack it in the dark.

An exhausted Mai barely made it up the stairs after the others. She could hear the voices of the others greeting Oliver along with someone else. Mai vaguely recognised Luella's voice so she assumed it was her they were greeted.

Closing the door behind her as she entered the office, Mai only just realised someone was behind her before she was turned around, picked up and spun in the air. She smiled down at a rather ecstatic Oliver, placing her hands on his shoulders to keep herself steady. He looked rather cute with his eyes lit up in happiness.

The spinning finally ended when Oliver pulled Mai close for a hug and kiss. Though he had yet to place her back on the ground.

_"Mama, Daiki dizzy."_

_"Sorry Daiki. Daddy was just very excited about your existence."_

_ "Dada happy?"_

_"Yes, Daddy happy."_

_"Daiki happy."_

_"Mummy happy too."_

_"_

Mai, I'm so happy! And I'm so sorry you had to spend the first half alone." Oliver whispered in her ear.

"It's all right, Naru. It couldn't be helped. I'm glad you know now, and are here. Though... Why are you here? I thought you had another three months left in England before coming back." Mai whispered back.

"Father told me what case you were on. We were worried especially since you fit the ideal target." Oliver replied in a normal sound level. His words brought everyone else's conversation to silence as the processed what he said.

"Mai... made... the ideal... target?!" Madoka half yelled.

"Are you telling us... that Mai is pregnant?" Takigawa shrieked.

"I'm 17 weeks pregnant." Mai confirmed with a smile still held in Oliver's arms. She got the feeling he wasn't going to let go any time soon.

Masako's face almost broke. Her heart most certainly did. It was time she gave up on persuing a relationship with Oliver.

Everyone else showed various expressions of excitement and horror.

Takigawa was thing hard. '_Mai was still only 18. Whilst she would be graduating before the baby was due, she still had a couple of months to go of schooling.__What about university? OMG, she could have lost the baby on this case! If she hadn't of been caught in mid air... Wait how was she caught in mid air?'_"Mai... What happened on the case... How were you able to stay suspended in mid air?"

"In mid air?!" Oliver asked, shocked.

"Um... That... was Daiki. It seems he possesses PK-LT?" Mai mumbled before tucking her head into Oliver's neck.

"Daiki?" Ayako asked.

"Our son. Mai can communicate with him vi's telepathy. I didn't know he possessed other abilities already though?"Oliver answered for her.

"We only discovered he had it when he stopped me from falling any further down the stairs after the spirit pushed me." Mai answered him after finally lifting her head up.

"Well that's interesting. I wonder where the LT comes from? Gene didn't have PK himself even if he can buffer mine for me. I only have ST and MT. Perhaps it comes from you, Mai? Oliver mused with a hand on his chin.

"As far as I'm aware, I don't have any form of PK, Naru. I'm pure ESP." Mai denied it. "Perhaps it's someone else in your family, biologically?"

"Anything's possible, I guess." Oliver sounded tired.

"You should go to bed, it must of been a long flight and you've probably been awake since you landed." Mai suggested, brushing a stray hair out of Oliver's face.

"Come on. You can stay at my apartment. I'm not ready to let you go just yet." Oliver finally put Mai down and picked up their bags. He ushered the two women down to his car.


End file.
